Thursday, October 3, 2013

Nepali passport ranks fifth worst to travel with

Nepal makes
it to a list of the worst passport to travel with, according to a study.

Nepal ranks fifth
with a scorecard of 37, Sri Lanka sixth, sharing the spot with Kosovo, Sudan
and Lebanon with a 38 scorecard in the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions
Index, a global ranking of countries based on the freedom of travel for their
citizens.

Afghanistan,
which bottomed out as the country with most number of visa restrictions imposed
on its passport holders, ranked at 93 with a score of 28, followed by Iraq at a
rank of 92 and a score of 31, with and Pakistan and Somalia a mere spot away
with a 32 score.

"Pakistan,
Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan remain in the bottom four places of the ranking,
which means that citizens of these countries enjoy the least freedom of
travel," said Henley & Partners in its statement.

The UAE gained eight rank from the previous year (56th) and is the
second best Arab country for affording visa-free travel to its citizens after
the 52nd-ranked Kuwait. While Kuwaitis can travel visa-free to 77 countries,
Emiratis can do so to 72 countries across the world.

India is ranked 74, and improved its position by six slots since
last year's rankings, with Indians allowed to travel visa-free to 52 countries.

Based on the
numbers, Afghani nationals can travel visa-free to a mere 28 countries, while
Iraqis can visit 31 nations visa-free. Somalia and Pakistan nationals can
travel to 32 countries without a visa, stats reveal.

Despite its recent political turmoil, both Libyan and Syrian
passport holders fared better than its sub-continent counterparts with a score
of 39 and a rank of 87 out of 93 countries listed.

Meanwhile, passing with flying colours as the second best travel
passports were Germany, the US, Denmark and Luxembourg, all coming in with a
score of 172.

The Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index saw Finland, Sweden
and the United Kingdom emerge as the world’s most coveted passports, with the
least number of restrictions imposed on its holders, with a score of 173, meaning
citizens of the three countries can travel to 173 countries without visa
restrictions.

Henley & Partners, which handles international residence and
citizenship planning, has been publishing the Visa Restrictions Index since
2006, which serves as a global ranking of countries based on the freedom of
travel for their citizens.

This global ranking is
produced in collaboration with global aviation agency International Air Transport
Association (IATA).